My Salvation
by Flowangelic
Summary: She was Sophia's salvation. Will she become his too? A Daryl/OC story, T rated for now.
1. Chapter 1

**I recently started watching Season 2 of the Walking Dead. I felt so bad for Sophia...Luckily in the world of writing, we can let her live ^^ **

**My first Walking Dead Fic. a Daryl/OC, because he is a brilliant character :)**

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**My salvation**

Chapter 1

I could see her running at high speed past the trees. Her wailing indicated she was in a state of fear, she was running _from _something. Then I spotted them. One…two. Two of them were following her.

_Shit, shit, shit…  
_They were not too far behind and at the speed she was running at, she would soon tire out…and they wouldn't. They never did.

I had to do something. I could not stay up here watching idly, while knowing that that little girl would soon stop running and they would gain up on her. But there were more of them, I knew there were more. I wouldn't be able to handle an entire group.  
Then it happened. I held my breath as I saw her trip and hit the ground. My heart broke and I made up my mind. I turned around, left my backpack between the branches and started descending from the tree. My feet touched the ground softly. I had no intention of alarming the two following her yet. But when I turned and looked at the location where the girl had fallen, I saw nothing. She was gone. A short scream sounded but went silent almost immediately. Then I spotted her and she was not alone. A man lifted her up in his arms and started running.

I quickly scanned my surroundings before following them. He was running towards the stream. Stupid move, he had no idea what was on the other side of the water. I stopped.

There was no need for me to continue this. The girl was no longer alone, which had been my main reason to leave my hiding spot in the first place.  
I turned back around and headed back to the tree where I had left my bag. _But what if they got stuck?_ _What if the rest of them arrived from the other side?_ I hated my conscious… I sighed and hurried after the man and the girl.

It didn't take long for me to reach the stream, but by the time I got there I did not see the man, the girl or the two undead that had been following her. Had I missed them? Then, from my left, I could hear the splashing of water. They were heading down the creek.

"Shit…" I muttered as I ran a hand through my hair, there was nothing I could do now. but then I looked down at the water and saw a girl staring back at me. She was still here. Had the man left her here all by herself? Why would he,- … no matter, I had to get her out of her.

I raised my index finger to my lips, signalling for her to keep quiet. She had to stay quiet, any noise and the undead could come back. I reached my arm out to her and waited for her to grab it so she could climb out of the stream. The girl looked to the left before shaking her head at me. _Damn it…_

I crouched down and again extended my hand.

"If you don't come with me now, more will come. So either you stay and die or you can come with me and live," I said as nicely as I could. Her bottom lip started to quiver. _Oh no…please don't cry._

"Please." I tried again and it worked. She walked forward and grabbed hold of my hand, with one big pull I managed to get her out of the stream. She was breathing heavily and started to shake.

"What is your name?" I asked her, I had to figure out a way to prevent her from having a break down.

"S-S-Sophia…" the little girl said," Sophia P-Peletier."

"Sophia, my name is Madison and I need you to listen to me." I grabbed hold of her hand and looked into her eyes," We need to get to safety first, alright? Not a sound until we are safe."

For a moment it looked like she wanted to protest, but luckily she didn't.

"Good girl, come on." I held her hand tightly and took her back to the tree I had been in, when she caught my attention for the first time. My backpack was still hanging there, I told Sophia to wait while I climbed up to grab the pack. Sophia nodded, shakily, and looked around her as I grabbed my stuff. There wasn't much in the backpack, simple stuff. A first aid-kit, a flashlight, a few cans which contained food and two matchboxes.

"Do you have a weapon?" Sophia whispered as soft as she could. I glanced over my shoulder and held up a crowbar for her to see. She nodded and I jumped back to the ground.

"Come on. Let's get out of here, before it turns dark." I said to her. I was about to grab hold of her hand but Sophia stepped back.

"Rick told me to go back to the road." She replied. _The road? The road was a dangerous place to go. Lots of undead hang around there. _

"Sophia," I lowered myself to the ground and looked up at her," We can't go back to the road now. They could still be near, blocking the way back to the roads."

"B-but my mom…" Her bottom lip started to tremble again. _Heaven help me…_

I sighed deeply," Sophia, tomorrow we,-" With one big push I shoved Sophia aside and stood up. I raised my crowbar and swung it with full force against the head of the creature in front of me. Sophia screamed as the undead man hit the ground right before her feet. _Great, now we had to get the hell out of here before more would show up._ I quickly grabbed Sophia's arm and pulled her with me, she did not resist this time.

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"How come we didn't stop at that tent back there?" Sophia asked me as we walked out of the woods.

"Because I have been there before and there is nothing to find." I replied shortly.

I hadn't spotted any undead since the last one I had whacked to the ground.

"Look over there," Sophia pointed," a church."

The church…We weren't too far away from one of the houses I was planning on hiding for the night with Sophia, but I needed to check on the church first.

"We have to be extra quiet Sophia." I whispered to her," There are some of them inside." She nodded.

The first time I went into the church, there had been no one there. Then the church bells went off and scared the living daylights out of me. I discovered the source of the bells quickly, an automated bell toll, outside on the side of the building. After I had managed to shut the damn thing off I had to fight two undead of my back. It hadn't taken long for me to figure out that they were attracted by sound and especially loud noises. The automated bell audio gave me an advantage when I needed to head out to find supplies or scan the neighbourhood, so I changed the time setting on the church bells.

Sophia and I stopped at the side of the church. I placed my backpack on the ground and opened up the box containing the timer for the bell tolls. I don't know what exactly went wrong but I must have pressed something, because suddenly the audio went off.

"Shit!" I cursed, hitting the button again and the bells stopped. _Damn it. Now we had to be extra careful._

"Won't the noise attract the Walkers?" Sophia said.

"What?…Walkers?" I looked at her as I grabbed the backpack.

"That's what we call them... We call them Walkers."

"Walkers, huh?" I frowned. _Walkers. That sounded less gruesome than undead._ I looked at Sophia, clutching her doll close to her chest. She looked so innocent, with her short blond hair and her rainbow t-shirt.

"Better get going before those _Walkers_ show up." I hoisted the backpack onto my back and grabbed Sophia's hand.

"Any moment now the church bells will go off again, luring some of those _Walkers_ towards the church, and that will give us the clearance to reach one of the abandoned houses in the woods safely."

"What about the road? Aren't we moving too far away from it?" I felt a tug on my arm, Sophia had stopped.

"No, I'll make sure we won't go too far. I will get you back to your mother, Sophia." I smiled at her," I promise."

The bells sounded, we had waited too long, and if we wanted to reach the house safe and sound then we'd had to go now.

"Come on, no more dawdling." I told her firmly.

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**I hope this first chapter caught your interest, and that you will at least stick around long enough to read the whole story :)**

**Reviews are very much appreaciated, and if you like...check out my other stories ^^ **


	2. Chapter 2

**I was amazed to see that so many people favorited/alerted this story. Thank you all so much!**

**Now on with chapter 2, Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 2**

I told Sophia to wait outside, but the girl was too scared to be on her own at the moment. I should have realized that before making the suggestion at all, it was very difficult keeping an eye on my surroundings and on her at the same time. This is exactly why I travelled alone.

The abandoned home was large, it wasn't a farm like most of the houses in the area, but still just as large. I tossed the flashlight to Sophia," The lights aren't working. I need you to light the area, when we scout some of the rooms. Can you do that for me?"

Sophia clicked the flashlight on and nodded.

We checked the kitchen first. There were candles on the dining table. Most of them already used, you could tell by the multiple coloured layers of wax upon the surface.

"Someone's been here." Sophia whispered. _Very observant of her. _

"I have." I replied as I placed my backpack on the table. Sophia frowned at me," but if you have been here before, then why are we,-"

She stopped talking and looked up at the ceiling. The sound of someone moving about came from upstairs.

"That is why…" I said keeping my gaze on the ceiling," I'm going to need your help." I opened my backpack and took out one of the knives I carried in there. I extended it to Sophia. The little girl shook her head at the sight of the knife.

"Sophia, I'm sorry, but if we want to spend the night here, then I'm going to need your help." I moved my hand and she stepped back.

I sighed, "or would you rather have me lock up you in the pantry?"

She pulled a face and reluctantly took the knife from me. We headed up the stairs, Sophia tightly held on to my jacket as we made our way into the corridor. An orange light shone brightly through the window at the end of the hallway, the sun was setting. We halted in front of one of the doors. It had gone quiet.

"Do you think it's in there?" Sophia whispered. A loud bang sounded from the other side of the door, causing me and Sophia to jump.

"Stand back, Sophia." I grabbed the handle and turned it, but nothing happened. I turned it again and still it did not budge.

I rubbed the back of my neck, "It's locked."

"What do we do now?" Sophia asked," are you going to kill it?"

I had no idea how it could have gotten itself locked up in there. Judging by the hinges, the door opened up towards the inside, not into the corridor. Had something heavy fallen against the other side? In any case, we couldn't get in, which meant it couldn't get out.

"We're going to leave it."

"Leave it?!"

Another loud bang came from behind the door, followed by a gurgling noise.

"If we can't get in there, then it can't get out. We can block part of the corridor with furniture in case it does manage to find a way out." I suggested. Sophia didn't seem to like the idea. I was actually starting to think she wanted me to kill the Walker. She never said a thing though, so we started to check the other rooms. They were all clear, meaning it was just the one in the room. I knew that eventually I would kill it, but for now I would leave it where it was. Before we headed downstairs I decided to move the cabinets, which stood in the corridor, towards the room where the Walker was.

"Sophia. Watch my back, alright?" I asked her while placing my crowbar against the wall. I took a deep breath and with great effort pushed one of the cabinets towards the door, where Sophia was standing guard. It was a rather heavy thing, so I stopped," Mind lending me a hand?"

Instead of saying yes, or no, Sophia screamed loudly.

I turned around staring directly at one of those Walkers, a female Walker, missing half of her bottom jaw and teeth. Her brownish red tongue flopped around, like a tired dog gasping for air. She launched forward at a speed I hadn't seen before in one of them. I raised my arms and caught her before we both toppled over.

"Sophia! Knife, give me the knife!" I yelled trying not to breath in the horrible smell coming from the undead, yet very much moving, corpse on top of me. I tried pushing her off, but she was too close to my face.

"Sophia!" I shouted again.

Something wet hit my face and the body went limp. I quickly shoved the Walker off of me and stared at it with disbelieve. The knife I had given Sophia was stuck in the creature's left eye. It probably hit her brain somehow. I turned my head to look at Sophia and saw that she was still standing in the same spot. She had thrown the knife…actually _thrown the knife!_ What if she had missed and hit the wall instead, I could have been bitten or killed. But the little girl had very well just saved my life.

I crawled back onto my feet and stumbled towards her.

"Are you alright?" I asked her with concern. All of the blood seemed to have drained from her face," Sophia?"

She didn't reply but simply stared at the Walker she had managed to kill with a single toss. I pulled her into a hug," Thank you. Thank you, Sophia." Then I felt her small arms crawl over my back and she returned the hug.

"Come on, let's go down and have some dinner before we go to bed."

**::::::…::::::**

The next morning we were sitting outside in the tall grass, taking our time, before we would head out towards the road to look for Sophia's mother.

"Maddy?" Sophia yelled a few feet away from me.

"What?" I replied, leaning on my elbows to look at her. She was standing next to a bush with a few white flowers. She plucked one and walked back to me.

"Look at this beautiful flower, isn't it amazing?" She handed me the little white thing. It was rather odd to see something this beautiful still being able to bloom during these times.

"Do you know what it's called?" Sophia asked.

"I have no idea," I shrugged," it kind of looks like a rose…" I returned the flower to her and she continued back to what she had been doing since the crack of dawn, throwing knives.

Ever since she had saved me from the Walker last night, I figured it would be best to have her practise with a weapon should she need to defend herself or perhaps save my life again. Last night could have been sheer dumb luck, but it was the best shot I had ever seen. This morning she proved that she had some hidden skill when it came to knife throwing. The first few throws were shit, but soon she figured out a way, and after that almost every single toss she did was a direct hit.

If I didn't know any better, I'd even say she was rather enjoying it.

When Sophia woke up this morning she was quite chirpy. It annoyed me to bits. We opened a can of anchovies for breakfast, which was just as disgusting as it sounds but we had to eat something.

Last night had shaken her up pretty badly. Nevertheless she fell asleep rather quickly. We had created a makeshift bed at the bottom of a pantry. She squeezed herself in there while I kept guard in front of it. I sat there all night, with my crowbar across my lap and the flashlight in my hand, watching her sleep. It felt good to be with someone again, talking to someone, looking out for someone. But it also meant I had to watch out more and be even more careful. I had stayed up the whole night.

"I think it's time we hit the road, Sophia." I stretched.

"Alright, Maddy!" She replied as she gathered the knives.

I hoisted the backpack into my back and took two of the three knives from her. That knife she had thrown last night belonged to her now. She had earned it.

"Do you think my mum and the others are still on the road?" she asked hopefully after we had walked for an hour.

"I hope so, and if not we will keep on looking." I replied and I meant it. She was my responsibility now, and if her mother and friends were still alive I would do all I can to get her back with them.

"Will you stay with us?"

I stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Sophia started," we're a big group…we look out for each other. You're alone, so I thou,-"

"We shall see, Sophia. The first important thing is getting you back." I said sternly, not wanting to discuss it any further.

After another hour of walking, having encountered no Walkers luckily, we made it to the road. Dozens of cars had been left here. Some still containing Walkers, most of them dead instead of undead.

"Do you recognize any of these surroundings?" I asked her after we had walked around for fifteen minutes. Sophia shook her head. I couldn't blame her for not recognizing anything, seeing as there were a lot of cars left behind on this highway. I could hardly imagine a little girl the age of…," Sophia, how old are you anyway?"

"Twelve," She peeked into one of the cars, crinkled her nose and walked back to me," How old are you Maddy?"

I leaned my back against one of the cars, my shoulders still hurt a bit from falling against that cabinet last night, "It's not polite to ask a woman her age."

Sophia crossed her arms," 40?"

My eyes widened," 40, well thanks a lot. Just because I haven't had a decent wash in a while, doesn't mean I'm old."

"Sorry…"

"That's alright, I'm 32 actually."

"That is still old." She replied.

"Okay, enough resting," I replied feeling irritated," Let's continue down the road, if we don't find anything we'll head back to the house."

We walked down the highway, Sophia told me that one of the vehicles they had was an RV. But there wasn't an RV in sight, perhaps they had moved on. I couldn't imagine they would, no mother would leave their child unless she knew for certain it was hopeless.

"Is that food?" Sophia suddenly exclaimed pointing at a yellow car. I narrowed my eyes and noticed, what seemed like, writing on the back window.

We approached the vehicle, and indeed those were letters on the glass;

_SOPHIA STAY HERE_

_WE WILL COME EVERY_

_DAY_

A message for Sophia, they hadn't forgotten about her, they simply moved somewhere else. These roads weren't really safe, lot's of Walkers hung around here, it would only be a matter of time before we'd come across some of them.

I glanced at the supplies they had left on the car, a blanket, large flashlight. Bottled water and…was that peanut butter?

Sophia didn't seem to care much about the stuff. She placed her hand on the window and looked up at me," They left? When will they come back?"

"I don't know, Soph…" Honestly I had no intention of waiting for them. I understood the idea those people had in mind, but truthfully it was rather dangerous and I was not going to risk my neck by waiting here until they might show up. I grabbed the food and water from the trunk and stuffed it into the backpack.

"Wait! What are you doing?!" Sophia cried out," Leave that! We have to wait for them."

She grabbed hold of my arm and started to pull, causing me to drop the bag on the floor," Sophia, we can't wait," I turned around to face her," What if they've already been here? Do you know how many of those Walkers are around here?"

Her lip started to tremble.

"I told you I'd get you back to your mother and I will, but for now we have to go. I don't want to wait here and become Walker food in case they don't show up."

She started to sob and I pulled her into a hug," I'm sorry…"

"I'll tell you what, how about we'll leave them a message." I suggested. Sophia looked up and wiped her tears away.

"What kind of message?"

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**Daryl will make his appearance in the next chapter :)**

**R&R**

**Until next time! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I can't believe the number of people who are reading this story, thank you :)**

**and because of that, here is chapter 3 !**

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**Chapter 3**

Sophia started pulling on the threads of her t-shirt, the part where I had cut a piece off. I figured leaving something personal behind was the best way to prove to her mother, that Sophia was still alive.

"I'm sorry about your shirt." I said as we walked through the forest back to the house.

"That's alright, I'm glad we didn't leave my doll behind." Sophia replied, clutching the ragdoll tightly against her side. Truthfully it had crossed my mind to leave her doll behind, it would have been easier than ruining her T-shirt, but I couldn't do that to her.

I wanted to leave another message behind, in case something would happen to the piece of fabric, only we never got the chance. I intended to carve a short message on the trunk, but the moment the blade touched the surface, we were surprised by a Walker. It was Sophia who had noticed him and she pulled me aside behind the car. I tightened my grip on the crowbar as Sophia lowered herself to the ground to peek at the Walker. She lifted her index finger, indicating there was only one of them.

I motioned for her to stay in her spot as I moved around the vehicle. I didn't take my time because I wanted to get away from the highway as quickly as possible. Stepping aside from the car I got behind the Walker and with two good hits against his head, he fell to the ground.

Sophia and I ran and now here we were, on our way back to the house. I'm glad with the provision Sophia's group had left on the road, saved me a trip to the town nearby to search for food_. It won't be long though, before I have to think of moving away from this area and probably without Sophia._ I glanced at her walking next to me.

She's been with me for two days now, and still I knew almost nothing about her. Her family, about the group she was with and how she got disconnected from them.

"Tell me about your family?" I asked her. She stopped and looked at me with big eyes. I halted as well. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut. She seemed rather taken aback by the question.

"Sophia, I'm sorry. You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to."

"My mum, she,- …she's called Carol." Sophia started," She's very protective of me, but that's because she loves me. She's got short hair and blue eyes… I really miss her."

"She sounds nice, she'll be happy to see you again." I smiled," what about your dad?"

"My dad? He uhm,-" she paused for a moment," he didn't make it…"

"Oh, that's,-… I"

Sophia pressed her doll against her chest," he wasn't very nice, especially to my mum."

_Shit…what could I say about that?_

"Life is weird like that," I finally said," We all start out the same way, but at some point in life, some people get lost and stay lost."

"What does that mean?" Sophia frowned.

"It means you should never forget who you are." I started walking again.

We reached the house, but something was off. I told Sophia to stay close to me as we approached the house we had spent the night before. The front door was open, and I know it was closed when we left for the highway. We moved around to the back. That door was open too," Someone has been here," I whispered to Sophia, I felt her hand grabbing hold of my arm.

"Walker?" She asked softly.

"Maybe…" Both doors were open, which could mean a few things, that a Walker came through here and was now gone or still inside but it could also be a person.

"We're not staying here." I decided grabbing hold of Sophia's hand. She didn't protest, but I still felt the need to explain it to her.

"I do not wish to find out who or what is inside, if there is anyone inside to begin with. There is another place we can stay tonight."

The place I had in mind wasn't the safest spot to spend the night, but it had a 'guard dog'. It was more of a dead person than a dog, but it still did the trick. His foul smell kept our scent hidden from other Walkers. The one thing that worried me was the fact that his feet had been eaten by other Walkers, I wasn't sure what to make out of that.

Half an hour later we reached the tent. Everything seemed fine, until I caught sight of the 'guard dog'. "Huh that's odd…" I mumbled.

"It's disgusting." Sophia said wrinkling her nose, looking with disgust at the dangling corpse.

"That too," I approached the Walker and poked it in its back with my crowbar. It didn't respond. Carefully I turned him around and I looked up and saw an arrow stuck in its forehead. Someone had killed it.

"Well shit…" I cursed." He's dead."

I couldn't tell when it had happened, since he was already dead, but it couldn't have been long. Last time I stayed here was only three days ago. I checked the tent, and tossed the backpack inside when I found no one there.

I used one of the knives to cut the Walker down from the rope around his neck. He still smelled disgusting. Perhaps he could be useful even in this state. I dragged him towards the tent and left him near the opening.

"What if he comes back to life, like the others?" Sophia asked worriedly.

"He won't, you see that arrow?"

She nodded.

"If you hurt their brain, they won't come back." I explained. Sophia came closer and looked at its face.

"Daryl shoots arrows."

I was inside the tent, grabbing one of the water bottles when she said that," Who?"

"Daryl. He is with us. He hunts food and protects us by killing Walkers with a crossbow." Sophia said taking the bottle from me.

_Must come in handy to have someone around with, what seemed to be, survival skills_."He sounds great to have around." I replied.

"He's very grumpy and snarls a lot." She retorted.

I asked her about the rest of the group, and I learned that it was bigger than I first thought. There was another kid, with his mother and father, who was a police man. An old man, Carol, Sophia's mother, another woman, an Asian man, a man called T-dog and another police man.

"And Daryl of course," She finished counting with her fingers. Ten people, eleven when you count Sophia. _That big of a group and they still managed to lose her?_

"If they are all looking for you, we're sure to find someone soon." I said.

"I hope so…" Sophia replied as she sat down next to me.

**::::::…::::::**

"You look terrible."

"Not in the mood, Soph…" I groaned. Ever since I found Sophia, I haven't had a good night's sleep. Not that I slept like a log before that, but at least I got some hours of rest. Last night was the most annoying night so far, while Sophia lay fast asleep inside the tent, I killed one Walker who had decided to pay us a visit. Could have been from the small fire or perhaps it had caught our scent. After I had smashed my crowbar into his skull, I placed him on the other side of the tent and there I kept watch, between the two Walkers.

"You could have told me about the other Walker, you know." She complained and I couldn't help but crack a smile, it had scared the living daylights out of her.

"Next time I will." I replied.

Today we headed down the other side of the water, hoping to find someone looking for Sophia. Since they didn't stay on the highway, I figured they'd probably try to reach one of the farms. Most of the farms were deserted or crawling with Walkers.

"Maddy?" Sophia called out a few feet away from me.

"Not so loud," I said heading her way," What's wrong?"

Sophia pointed down below," Does this lead to where you found me?"

I nodded," It is, though I found you much further up the creek."

"Can we rest?" She asked," Spend time in the water for a while?"

I didn't want to stop, even though it was still early, I wanted to make progress in finding her group. But I had to remember that I wasn't alone, I had to consider her feelings too," Fine, but not too long."

Carefully we headed down to the water, trying not to slip on the wet rocky surface. We stopped at a big log in the middle of the shallow creek. Sophia took off her shoes, handed me her doll and walked into a deeper part of the water. I sat down on the log and watched how she splashed the water up with her feet. In a way it was very uplifting to see her enjoying something as simple as playing with water. I guess children had a way of making the best out of any situation.

"Come on Maddy, the water feels nice." Sophia said. I wanted to join her, I really did, but I had to be on the lookout just in case.

"Nah, I'm good. You go and enjoy yourself." I waved. Sitting in the sun was good enough for me. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and let the warmth of the sun touch my face. When I reopened my eyes, Sophia was still in the same spot. But she wasn't alone. A Walker was heading into her direction. She had her back turned to him and her focus was on her own feet squishing the mud between her toes. I jumped up and ran towards her. She smiled when I stopped next to her, probably thinking I had come to join her. I grabbed her," Walker." And she turned her head around, pushing herself against me when she saw it," Time to go."

Because of the mud that the Walker was walking on it couldn't move very quickly, which gave us time to leave. But when we turned around two more had appeared near the log. _The backpack…_

I quickly ran to the log, followed by Sophia. I slipped and fell forward into the muddy water. Luckily Sophia was there and she managed to get the backpack for me. I scrambled back on my feet and took it from her," Thanks."

"Wait! My doll," Sophia screamed turning around thinking she still had time to grab it, the Walkers were too close to the log now.

"It's too late." I said pulling her away and we started running.

I don't know how we managed it, but we lost them along the way, having climbed our way out of the mud bank. I breathed heavily leaning against a tree, with Sophia hugging my waist.

"Are you alright?" I asked her. Her head nodded against my body.

"Good…" I exhaled deeply as I rubbed her head. I hated days like this, running and hiding.

Sophia suddenly shook me, I looked at her," Did you hear that?" she said looking into no particular direction.

"Hear what?"

"I- I think I heard my name."

I looked around and tried to focus on something that resembled the sound like a voice, but I heard nothing," are you sure?"

"I think so…"

She didn't have to tell me what was going through her mind. She wanted to locate the source of the voice. I couldn't blame her, but we had just run like mad from a total of three Walkers and who knows where the voice had come from.

"Maddy?"

I honestly doubted we would ever get another chance like this," Give me a second to catch my breath."

Sophia nodded.

After half an hour of walking through the woods we still hadn't found anything or anyone. If someone had been calling for her, they were probably gone by now. I was starting to lose hope and I could tell I wasn't the only one.

"I really thought I heard someone…" Sophia said in a sad voice. If Sophia was losing hope, I wouldn't know what to do. I had to keep her hopes up.

"We'll find them." _Don't give up Sophia, don't do that to me._

Then I heard it, coming into our direction. Not a voice, but the sound of hooves and sure enough a horse appeared from between the trees, a saddled horse. Only there was nobody on it. It passed us at high speed and then vanished from our sight. Had there been somebody on it? Or had it come from one of the nearby farms? "Let's head into the direction it came from."

We were walking along the side of the water again, back into the direction we had come from. I was getting tired, and by the looks of it so was Sophia. I was about to suggest to her we should stop for a moment when she gasped out loud.

"Daryl, Daryl!" She yelled.

"Sophia, wait!" I reached out but she was already running.

"No I know him, that's Daryl!"

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**R&R :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't know how to express myself ^^ So many people keep reading this story! Thank you all so much :)**

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**Chapter 4**

_Did she say Daryl? _

I went after Sophia while glancing over my shoulder, making sure there were no Walkers nearby. Sophia rushed through the water and dropped on the ground next to the body. She began to shake him.

"Daryl? Daryl, wake up!"

I dropped the backpack and lowered myself next to her. This man was in bad shape. There was blood on the side of his face and his eyelids were fluttering. I eyed the rest of his body, cuts and scrapes, covered in dirt and an arrow stuck in his side.

"Sophia, stop." I grabbed hold of her hands and pulled her towards me," he seems to be hurt pretty bad, we have to be gentle, alright?"

I released my hold on her and leaned over him.

"Do you think he'll make it?" Sophia asked with concern.

"Well, I'm no doctor, but we have to get him out of this filthy mud."

"Merle..." Daryl mumbled under his breath.

"Who's Merle?" I asked Sophia.

"His brother, he was very grumpy too…" She replied.

"Screw you…" Daryl cursed. Sophia's eyes widened and look at me. I wasn't sure what to say, we needed to get him out of here first. I stood up, moved behind him and placed my arms under his pits.

"A girl…" he continued mumbling," lost a little girl." I was starting to think he was in some sort of delusional state. I pulled him back with great effort.

"He must weigh a ton." I gritted my teeth as I pulled him further up to higher ground.

"Shut up, all you had to do was wait, we came back for you…Rick and I. We,-" he sounded quite angry.

"Do you think he- he's talking about me?" Sophia asked softly.

"I ain't nobody's bitch!"

"Don't mind him, Soph. I think he hit his head a bit too hard." I walked around him and stopped at his feet," Can you go to his head and make sure he doesn't close his eyes?"

She walked up and I grabbed hold of his shoes. The moment I did, he started to stir and with one great kick I landed on my back in the mud.

"Holy sh,-" That hurt like hell.

_He kicked me. That son of a bitch kicked me!_

I used my elbows to push my body up. Sophia was still standing next to Daryl, with her hands clasped over her mouth. Then she rapidly dropped them.

"Maddy!" She yelled with a trembling voice. I turned my head and saw what caused Sophia to scream, the two Walkers who had been chasing me and her an hour ago.

"Crowbar, Sophia, toss me the Crowbar!" I crawled away from the two approaching Walkers. Then I heard a loud thud and saw my crowbar only a few feet from me. I reached out with my arm and only managed to touch the black surface with the tip of my fingers.

"Shit, shit."

I turned around, moved forward and placed my hand around the cool handle. I heard the gurgling noise of the Walker directly behind me and when I turned, he was standing right in front of my. Suddenly a knife hit him straight into his right shoulder, not affecting him in the slightest.

I swung my arms and hit him straight in his jaw, with the blunt side of the crowbar. It knocked him down. I moved quickly and hit his skull several times. I heard Sophia shouting my name and the next thing I knew the second Walker fell on top of me. I rolled over but he was too heavy for me to roll away. I was now facing his decaying face directly and saw an arrow in his forehead.

Sophia's face appeared above me, she was crying," Maddy, Maddy."

"I can't lift him…" I moaned from underneath the Walker.

"Daryl!" She called, but Daryl didn't come over. He was back on the ground with a crossbow in his hands. Sophia crouched down and pushed the Walker off of me. I took a big gulp of air as he landed beside me in the mud.

I felt Sophia wrap her arms around as I sat up," I'm fine, Soph. Are you alright?"

She sniffed," yeah," she tightened her grip," I missed…" I reckoned she was referring to the knife located in the Walker's shoulder.

"Daryl pulled the arrow out and shot the Walker." She continued. I looked over at Daryl. The adrenaline must have given him strength to pull it out, and now he was exhausted. With the help of Sophia, I stood up and together we headed to Daryl.

"We'd better close his wound." I looked at the red spot on his shirt. We needed something to bind it with. We carefully took off his shirt and cut a piece from mine. We used my piece to cover the hole in his skin and wrapped his shirt around his body to keep it in its place. He was still asleep.

"Okay, we have to wake him up…" I said to Sophia," Just talk to him and shake him a bit, he might become hostile seeing an unfamiliar face." I moved back and watched Sophia talking to Daryl.

I walked away back to the Walker which had the knife in its shoulder. I bent down and pulled the knife out. Before turning around I kicked the Walker in its face. _Can't believe I was this close in becoming Walker food. _

When I turned, I saw Daryl waking up. He stared at Sophia with great disbelief. He raised his arms and touched the sides of her face.

"You're alright? You're fine?" he kept repeating while looking at her. Sophia nodded and she started to tear up again. He pulled her into a hug which she returned.

"Never had a doubt, not one doubt…"Daryl said to her," But where have you been girl? I have been looking all over for you."

"Maddy found me, kept me safe." Sophia replied and she nodded in my direction. Daryl looked up and locked eyes with me. He didn't seem as relieved anymore as he pushed Sophia behind him and pointed his crossbow at me.

"Daryl!"

"Quiet Sophia," He ordered," And you, drop the knife!"

"You're going to shoot me with what, an invisible arrow?" I retorted. Daryl lowered his weapon and then checked the side of his body.

"Maddy and I did that." Sophia smiled as she stepped away from him," You shot the Walker when it was about to hurt her, don't you remember?"

"Thank you for that," I said, making my way back to them," and you're welcome for that." I nodded at his wound.

"I-I don't…" He stammered.

"That is alright. I think you might have hit your head somehow. You've a rather large bump and some blood right there."

Daryl raised his arm and touched the top side of his head. He flinched as his fingers grazed the bump," Shit." He cussed.

"Maybe even a slight concussion, I'm not a doctor, but we'd better leave and find some place safe."

"Hold it lady, who made you the boss?" He walked over to the Walker and pulled the arrow out of its head," We are going back to the farm. Get this little girl back to her mother."

"Mum's okay?" Sophia asked.

"Doing just fine and missing you loads." Daryl replied, showing a very small smile.

"Hear that, Maddy?" She smiled beaming with joy.

"Better get going then." I grabbed my backpack and stuck the knife back inside after wiping it on my shirt. Sophia came up to me and handed me my crowbar. That was it. This was the day I'd say goodbye to Sophia and continue my way, I knew it. But not yet, I told her I would get her back to her mother and that I will.

**::::::…::::::**

"This really isn't the easiest way of getting out of this ridge." I shouted at Daryl.

"If you don't like it, you can go back down." He snapped. Sophia was right. He was a very grumpy person.

I told him we could move further down, where there was actually an easier way to get out. He ignored me and searched for his own way out. It was easier travelling with a child than with an adult, at least the child listened.

The spot he'd picked out wasn't too steep though and easy enough to climb up. Daryl was first, then Sophia and I was the last one, making sure Sophia wouldn't accidently slip and fall.

Halfway through the climb Daryl started mumbling again, cursing and something about a Chupacabra. Sophia looked back at me and I simply shook my head. Quite soon we reached the top and Daryl pulled himself up. Then he was gone.

"Hello?" I yelled.

"Yeah you better run!"

_Who was he talking to?_

"Daryl!" Sophia called out after him and he reappeared, extending his hand to pull her up. I crawled up after her and sat down for a moment.

"What are you resting for?" He immediately said.

"Shush, you aren't the only one who had a rough day…" I replied rubbing my upper back.

"You can rest at the farm." He grabbed my hand and pulled me on my feet.

"I would like that…" I meant it, even though I normally stayed clear of groups. I was in need of a rest, if I was to continue on my own. They could provide that for me.

We neared the edge of forest. I could see a big farm from here. _I haven't been on this side of the forest before, have I?_ I would have remembered if I had. Daryl halted before stepping into the open field.

"Let me go first, prepare them." He said.

"Oh and don't be surprised if they draw their gun on you, they tend to do that." He added before stepping into the light. _Very comforting._

Sophia and I moved a bit and watched from the shadow of the trees. A group of men came running from the house. They came closer and I noticed that every single one of them had a weapon in their hands. The four men stopped a few feet away from Daryl. One of them pointed his gun at him.

"Maddy, what are they doing?" Sophia asked tugging on my shirt," Let's go, they'll stop when they see us."

_They'll stop? She wanted me to run to a group of strange men with guns and axes? _

"Maddy!" She raised her voice and pulled me with her. We walked out of the woods into their line of vision.

"Third time you pulled that thing on my head, you're gonna pull the trigger or what?" Daryl sneered at the man before him. He turned his head for a moment," Guess who I,-"

A gunshot echoed and we saw Daryl collapse in the grass.

_They shot him…they actually shot him!_

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**Hope you enjoyed! R&R :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Still baffled, thank you all so much for your support :) **

**Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 5**

I pulled Sophia against me as we watched Daryl hit the ground. One of the four men started yelling and waving his arms in the direction of the farm. _They shot him. I can't believe they had shot him!_

"Daryl!" Sophia practically screamed and all heads turned into our direction.

_These people were insane_. I stepped back and pulled Sophia with me.

"Let go!" Sophia started to struggle.

"Sophia, are you crazy, let's go!"

I heard a click and when I looked up, stared right into the barrel of a gun.

"Let her go." The man with the gun said. I released my hold on Sophia and raised my hands up," drop your weapon." He added and I dropped the crowbar into the grass. Sophia jumped in front of me.

"No wait!" her high voiced yelled with protest," Don't shoot! Maddy is a friend!"

The man named Rick stared at Sophia with great disbelief, as if he only noticed her now.

"Rick, we gotta get him to the house." One of the others said.

Rick lowered his weapon and got down on his knees," I can't believe you're alive…" he whispered at Sophia. She smiled as he touched the side of her face.

"Rick!" The same guy shouted again.

Rick turned his head and nodded. Two men lifted Daryl from the ground, and started carrying him to the farm. Sophia stepped back to me and grabbed hold of my hand.

"This is Madison." She said. Rick gave a simple nod.

"Introductions will have to wait, let's get back to the farm first." He told us and he headed back to the wounded Daryl. I quickly took my crowbar from the ground before letting Sophia pull me with her after the others.

A woman and an older man came rushing towards us, she shouted loudly," Oh my God, oh my God! Is he dead?"

"Unconscious, you just grazed him." They told her and I felt a wave of relief when I heard that, even though he was the one who brought us to these mental folks. The old man looked up and his eyes widened when they landed on Sophia.

"Is that…," He paused," Sophia?"

Even the woman stopped her concern over Daryl and directed her attention to the girl holding my hand. Tears started to form in her eyes as she came over to us. She stopped right before me.

"Did you- did you find her?" She asked me.

Sophia replied for me," This is Maddy. She found me and took care of me."

Then from across the field, another female voice sounded. She was calling out Sophia's name. Sophia released my hand and started running, past the men, across the field and landed into the woman's arms.

"That's her mother." The old man said to me and my heart sank. _Carol._

**::::::…::::::**

The older man introduced himself to me as Dale, the woman was called Andrea. They walked me to the house where everybody quickly rushed inside to help Daryl and to focus on having Sophia back.

I felt rather nervous, somehow, as I stepped inside the house. There were a lot of people, it felt very cramped. So cramped, I almost couldn't breathe. I hadn't spoken a single word after introducing myself to Dale and Andrea outside. I was very thankful that everyone's attention was mostly on Sophia. Daryl was immediately brought upstairs, the man named Rick and another old man were with him, tending his wounds. Sophia hadn't let go of her mother since they had fallen into each other's arms. I observed Carol for a quick moment. She seemed like a very nice woman. She caught me looking at her and I averted my gaze.

It was only a matter of time before the attention would shift to me. Something I wasn't looking forward to, but I couldn't very well get up and leave. And then it happened. Sophia and her mother came up to me, I swallowed the lump in my throat as Carol took both of my hands and stared into my eyes. Blue, just like Sophia had told me.

"I don't know how I can thank you, for returning my baby girl to me." She said softly. _What should I say to her?_ _You're welcome? Anybody would have done it. I just happened to be in the neighbourhood. I haven't slept since I met your daughter. _

I gave her a smile and quickly looked at Sophia, who stood behind her mother," I'm glad you two are reunited."

Before Carol could respond, the old man came downstairs. He scanned the room and stopped when he saw me. He motioned for me to follow him. I didn't need a lot of convincing, anything to be gone from the crowded living room. But before I headed up the stairs, I turned to look at Sophia," I'll be back in a second." I said.

The man led me into one of the upstairs bedrooms. Inside there was Rick, another man and Daryl lying in bed. There was a bandage wrapped around his head and his bare torso was covered in cuts and scrapes.

"My name is Hershel, and I own this farm." The old man said as he closed the door behind me," I'll take a look at your wounds in a moment, if you have any, but first we need to talk."

I glanced around the bedroom. I didn't know what was worse, being here inside a room with four men or downstairs.

"You have nothing to fear," the man known as Rick said to me," We've got some questions, that's all."

"What's your name?" Hershel asked me," Daryl doesn't seem to remember."

I looked at Daryl, who hadn't bothered to turn around.

"Madison. Madison MacArthur."

Though it was faint, I could hear Daryl snort at the sound of my name.

"I'm Rick, this here is Shane." He pointed at the man next to him," and you've met Daryl."

"Can't say that was a very pleasant encounter," I retorted," Nor was it meeting you people. I do apologize, but aiming a gun at my head isn't a very good first impression."

"I apologize for that, but these days you have to be careful." Rick replied and he was right about that.

"So where are you from?" This question came from Shane, who seemed to eye me with a lot of suspicion.

"Does that matter?" I replied, looking at each of them.

"Just a simple question," he huffed.

Rick sighed and stood up," Listen, we are very grateful for what you did for Sophia. We've been through hell, you probably have too. It's hard to trust people, even if they seem kind-hearted." Rick had a good way with words.

"I don't plan on being in your way. The only thing I want is a decent night's rest and then I'll be gone by morning."

The door opened," You're going away?" Sophia stood in the doorway, her doll in one hand and the other resting against the doorpost. I was hoping she wouldn't find out until I was actually gone, that was too late now.

"I have to leave Sophia. I can't stay." I replied turning my head away from her.

"Why, why not?" She cried out walking over to me," You can't go Maddy!" She dropped the doll on the floor and grabbed my right arm. Her bottom lip quivered," You promised!"

I hadn't promised her such a thing, I don't know where she came up with that, the only thing I had said was, _we shall see._

"Sophia, please stop,-"

I was starting to feel lightheaded, a tingling sensation erupted in my fingers and hands, spots clouded my vision. I heard Hershel talking and felt someone grabbing hold of my upper body.

**::::::…::::::**

When I opened my eyes, I looked up to see a ceiling. I moved my hand over the sheets. It had been a long time since I slept in a proper bed. I couldn't recall what had happened, but my guess was that I probably fainted from exhaustion. It was dark outside, someone had lit a candle and placed it on the nightstand…I wondered what time it was. I rolled over and saw Sophia sitting in a rocking chair in the corner of the room, she was asleep.

"She hasn't left your side since you fainted." A voice spoke from the doorway. I sat upright and saw it was Carol.

"She told me a lot about you." She continued," what you did for her, what you two went through…yet I still have the feeling I know nothing about you."

She walked inside at sat down on the bed, her eyes still locked on her sleeping daughter," I don't know what could have happened to her if you hadn't shown up." _Was she crying?_

"She's my world you know?"

Then I recalled what Sophia told me about her parents, especially her father. Even though I didn't know the exact details, I could only guess it wasn't pleasant. I hesitated for a moment but then placed my hand on Carol's shoulder.

"You did a good job." I couldn't say anything else, I was afraid I might choke up. Carol turned her head and smiled. She wiped a tear away before getting up.

"Let me go and fix you a meal. In the meantime you can take a shower, if you'd like." She offered.

"Thank you." I replied.

Warm water, I couldn't believe it when I felt it against my skin. How long had it been since I last had a decent shower, and a warm one. There was even a bar of soap on the sink. I washed my hair, scrubbed the grime from my body and face. The bottom of the tub was brown from the dirt. Once the water looked crystal clear, I stepped out of the shower. Carol had also been very generous, giving me clean clothes and taking away my dirty old ones. I glanced at my reflection in the mirror. Dark circles underneath my eyes, but at least my skin was clean again, only few tiny cuts here and there, nothing that time couldn't heal. Too many bruises covered my body. The newest one was located on my upper right leg, where Daryl had kicked me in his delusional state.

I left the bathroom, still dizzy but better than I had felt in a long time. I was on my way back to the bedroom when I heard Carol's voice.

"You did more for my little girl today then her father ever did in her whole life." She said. I stopped in the doorway and Carol jumped.

"Madison," She exhaled deeply" you scared me there. Did you have a nice shower?"

I nodded," it had been a while."

Carol flashed a weak smile," you cleaned up nicely. I'll go and get your food." She turned back to Daryl," And you…eat!"

I watched her walk away and then turned my attention to Daryl," How are you feeling?"

"I'll live, how about you?"

"Woozy. A bit of food, a bit more sleep and I'll be good to go." I replied as I leaned my back against the door. I flinched.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Fell on my back, after you kicked me."

Daryl carefully pushed himself upright and leaned against the headboard," I don't recall that, to be honest."

"You were quite out of it, mumbling about Sophia and about a man named Merle."

Daryl frowned," Merle? Huh, figures…"

I didn't know what to say to him next, I didn't want to pry, and also I felt like I should thank him again for killing that Walker who nearly got me.

"You really are going back out there alone?" He suddenly said.

"Sorry?"

"Sophia told me. You're alone."

"Yes." I stepped away from the wall.

"I thought being alone would be the best way to handle these current events." He looked up at me," It's not though…"

The room fell silent.

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**R&R :) Hope you enjoyed!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Apologies for the delay with the update! The past two weeks have been incredibly busy! I'm back now, fully focused on the story :) no more delay!  
Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 6**

Daryl's words kept repeating inside my mind. On some level I knew he was right, so why was I still debating whether I should stay or leave.

I was sitting outside, with my back against the tree next to Dale's RV. I could see Dale sitting on top of the vehicle, his rifle in his lap and binoculars in his right hand. This morning I had left the house early before sun rise. Sophia had taken refuge in the room where I slept, having not left my side for the night. It gave me a kind of comfort when I saw her sitting there in the chair in the corner.

She was still asleep when I walked out of the bedroom. I passed the room where Daryl slept, peeked inside, but he wasn't there anymore. Quietly I descended down the stairs and tiptoed my way through the living room. Once outside Dale greeted me, from the top of his RV, with a warm," Good morning," as I approached the vehicle.

"You've been up here all night?" I asked him.

"Someone has to keep watch at night, in case Walkers decide to pay a visit." He replied stretching out," Want to join me up here and watch the sun rise?"

I thanked him and climbed the ladder to reach the roof. I sat down next to him and quietly watch the sun rise.

A golden hue stretched over the field, I leaned my chin on my knees and closed my eyes to enjoy the rays of the sun on my face.

"How did you end up here?" Dale suddenly asked me.

I opened my eyes and stared at him for a moment, he was quite old, around his mid-sixties I guessed,

"Sophia and I, we found Daryl. He was hurt,-"

"I meant only you, before Sophia."

"I know what you meant…," I replied. The reason how I ended up here was painful, something I did not want to talk about.

Dale leaned forward," Listen…I understand if you don't feel like talking about it, but keep in mind that if you plan on staying with us, you need to earn your place and our trust."

I gave one short nod, indicating I understood what he meant. Still, I left the rooftop and sat down against the tree which stood next to the RV.

I was getting annoyed. I couldn't forget what Daryl had said to me last night, or the words Dale had just spoken to me. What would I do now? Leave and continue to a new area, heading to nothing, or stay here with a group who could provide me shelter and companionship. It didn't sound as appealing as it should and I knew perfectly well why it felt that way.

"Maddy, Maddy!"

I heard Sophia hollering my name from the house. I jumped from my spot and ran around the RV. Sophia stood on the porch shouting my name again. When she spotted me, she rushed over and collided against my body.

"I-I-I thought y-you,-" She whimpered.

"You thought what? I'm here, alright?" I stared into her eyes before pulling her close. The door of the house opened again and Carol ran out, calling for her daughter. She stopped at the top of the porch steps when she saw us. I gently pushed Sophia back.

"I won't leave without mentioning it to you first." I told her.

Sophia looked at me rather sceptically," You promise?" then she lifted her hand and extended her little finger.

"Promise me, you won't leave without talking to me first." She practically pushed her hand into my face.

"Fine, I promise." I lifted my little finger and hooked it with hers. We shook and she stepped back with a small smile on her face, before heading back to her mother.

I exhaled deeply and ran my hand through my hair. As I walked away from the house, I saw Daryl, lying inside a tent looking in my direction. He didn't move or say anything, but he couldn't have missed what just occurred. He nodded once and I walked over to him.

"You were up early." He said to me as I crouched down in the opening of the tent.

"So were you."

"Sleep better in the outdoors." He replied leaning on his elbow.

"How's the head?" I asked, "And the hole in your side?"

Daryl moved his hand and placed it over his side," Fine. I don't remember much about it other than it had pierced my skin when I fell from the cliff."

He looked at me for a moment," and that you fixed me up afterwards."

"Least I could do after you pulled the arrow out of yourself, to shoot the Walker that was about to have me for lunch."

Daryl didn't reply, and he didn't avert his gaze either.

"I guess that makes us even." I smiled and got back on my feet.

"Sophia wouldn't have made it without you." He suddenly said and I glanced back into the tent," I don't know why I kept going…somehow I knew I wouldn't find her alive, but… I could not _not_ look, you know?"

I started to believe Daryl cared a lot for Sophia. He had gone out all alone to look for her, even though he had little hope.

"I'm glad you kept looking, and that we found you, otherwise Sophia would have never been reunited with her mother again."

**::::::…::::::**

They had left over an hour ago. Gun practise, Rick and some of the other men had decided it was best if everyone would get some practise with a gun, at least for those who wanted. He never asked me, I reckon it was because I wasn't part of their group. His son, Carl, was there too. After a heated discussion him and his parents had, Rick managed to convince his wife to allow Carl how to handle a gun.

Since Carl was getting gun training, it made me think it might be good for Sophia to gain more experience with her knife throwing. I decided I would discuss it later with Rick, that girl needed to learn how to protect herself too. I headed back to the farm, hearing those gun fires in the distance send shivers up my spine.

I passed the stables and stopped when I heard two male voices coming from inside.

"If you've watched the same broadcasts I did, you saw them attack, kill. They're dangerous!"

"You don't shoot sick people." That was Hershel's voice. I halted and crouched down.

"I've seen people I cared about die and come back and they are not people."Dale countered.

"My wife and stepson are in that barn, they are people."

"Let me help. I'll speak to Rick. We can make the barn more secure." Dale then suggested. _The barn?_

I glanced over my shoulder and focused on the large barn in the distance.

"If you really want to help, you'll keep this to yourself." I heard Hershel say to Dale," Rick is man of conscious. Are you so sure about everyone in your group?"

I didn't wait for them to finish their conversation. As quietly as I could I walked away from the stables. Hershel was hiding something in his barn. Judging by their conversation, I could only imagine what he had hidden in there. I wondered how Dale figured it out, and how long he had known.

Dale's words from this morning sprung back into my mind,_" But keep in mind that if you plan on staying with us you need to earn your place and our trust."_

It seemed to me, that Dale had trouble with listening to his own words. I was on my way back to the house but I decided I had to take a look at this barn up close. I stopped and turned around.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, it was just a large old looking barn. It looked rather fragile, as if one gust of wind would be able to tear it apart. The big doors were padlocked, and chains covered the wooden panels. I wouldn't be able to look inside from this position. I walked around and started looking for a ladder or anything else that would allow me to climb up. I found a ladder at the back which led up towards the hayloft of the barn. Before heading up the ladder I looked around, making sure no one, and especially Hershel or any member of his family, was near. I climbed up and as soon as I entered the hayloft, I was greeted by a disgusting rancid smell. Whatever was inside this barn wasn't alive. That's when I heard the familiar moans and gurgling noises. I glanced down from the loft at the ground and that's when I saw them. Around a dozen Walkers were looking up at me. Their arms raised and fingers clawing into the air, desperately to get their hands on some fresh meat.

"You've got to be kidding me." I lowered myself and simply sat there for a moment. What was Hershel thinking? _My wife and stepson are in that barn, they are people…_

This was insane. How did so many Walkers get in here in the first place, this could not be Hershel's entire family. The stench was terrible. I left the hayloft and climbed back down the ladder. When I placed my feet on the ground and I turned around, I looked straight into the faces of Patricia and Beth. Apparently the gun practise had finished.

"What were you doing up there?" Beth asked. Her eyes widened with shock.

"You saw them." Patricia stated. It wasn't even a question.

"You people are insane, you know that?" I said to Patricia," Keeping Walkers locked up in a barn."

"You don't understand how it feels…that's our family in there." Beth replied.

"I know perfectly well how it feels, thank you very much," I spat at her.

"Madison, please…" Patricia grabbed hold of my hand," don't tell anybody. Glenn promised to keep it a secret too."

I raised my eyebrows," Glenn, Glenn knows?"

Patricia looked at me with confusion," You didn't hear it from Glenn?"

Oh this was getting better and better. Dale knew and Glenn apparently knew as well.

"Who told you?" she asked me. I didn't reply, I pulled my hand out of her grip and headed back to the farm. This family had secrets, the group kept secrets from each other. If this is the way they treated each other, I was better off on my own.

They would notice and probably ask questions, if I walked in there to grab my bag and weapon. I halted and turned to Patricia and Beth.

"I want my backpack and crowbar." I told them," I'm leaving."

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**Hope you enjoyed! R&R ^^  
(again many thanks to everyone reading this story)**


	7. Chapter 7

**So many people reading this story... thank you so much! :)**

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**Chapter 7**

I stuck the plastic fork into the peach and took it out of the tin can. The supplies Carol had left on the car a few days ago were still inside my backpack. I had never taken the time to unpack the bag at Hershel's farm. I'm glad I didn't. I spent the night in the large house, where Sophia and I had stayed before. I sighed deeply before tossing the fork onto the table. I felt guilty for leaving so abruptly, without saying a word to anyone, and especially Sophia, to whom I promised not to leave unless I would talk to her first. I had to get a move on soon. I doubted they had started looking for me. But if they would, it would be around this area and this house was rather hard to miss. It was near Hershel's farmer, much closer than I initially thought.

The Walker, I had left upstairs in one of the rooms, was still there. I had gone upstairs to check for any additional Walkers, when I noticed the cabinets had all been moved from where I had placed them. The Walker, Sophia had killed by accident, was still on the floor. But the door to the room where the Walker was locked in had been opened. It turned out to be a woman, with grey hair, an elderly lady, seeing that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Last night I slept in the kitchen again, as I had always done. The makeshift bed I had created for Sophia, in the pantry, was still there. But I couldn't sleep. I dozed off early in the morning, woke up a few hours later and opened one of the tin cans to have a quick meal. It felt weird being alone, even if it had only been half a day. Those days with Sophia had left more of an impact on me than I had expected.

Suddenly the kitchen door started to rattle and the makeshift blockade I had created for safety started to shift. I jumped up from the chair, knocking the can with peaches over in the process. It landed on the floorboards and started to roll until it stopped against the wall. I grabbed my crowbar and at that exact moment the rattling stopped and was replaced by loud banging. Whatever was on the other side of the door was using force to get in here.

"Soph, we have to,-"

I turned around, but Sophia wasn't here. She was safely at the farm. For a moment I could only stare at the pantry with the pillow and blanket, ignoring the banging against the kitchen door. I realized at that moment that leaving the farm and especially Sophia, was a stupid thing to do. All because of a barn filled with Walkers and people keeping secrets. I broke my promise over something that wasn't even my problem to begin with. The way I saw it, I now had two options. Climb through the window above the sink, or wait for the Walker to enter the kitchen or leave. Breaking the window would make noise, and perhaps there was only one Walker on the other side of the door. But I couldn't take that chance. I smashed the window with my crowbar, tossed my backpack through it first, before climbing out myself. I never looked back to see if the noise had attracted any of them, I had only one goal in mind and that was getting back to the farm.

**::::::…::::::**

It wasn't until I stopped for a short moment to catch my breath, that I noticed the cut in my jeans. It wasn't ripped that badly, but there was a red stain on the denim and on my skin. I probably cut myself on a piece of glass when I had climbed through the window. I wasn't one hundred percent sure how close I was to Hershel's farm. This area looked more like a swamp than a forest. I was really starting to miss having a GPS, or a sense of direction. I sincerely hoped I wasn't too far away, the cut started to sting and I didn't have time to rummage in my backpack and hope there was still something useful left in the first aid kit, so instead I grabbed one of the water bottles and poured some water over the cut. I walked for another half a mile, when out of nowhere I heard two voices.

"Give me that bag." One of the voices said.

"I'm not gonna do that…What? You gonna shoot me, like you did Otis?"

That voice sounded familiar_. Was that Dale's voice I heard? _

"You're pretty much dead already," was the reply," Give me the guns."

"Rick is trying to get Hershel,-"

"Shut up and give me the guns!"

As I came closer to their location, I could hear the tension rising within their voices.

"Do I have to shoot you? Do I have to kill you, is that what it takes?"

I stopped in my tracks. There was no mistake. That was Dale aiming a gun at Shane.

"That's what it's gonna take." Shane moved closer until the tip of the gun touched his chest. The two men stared at each other for a moment, and then Dale lowered his gun.

"You belong here Shane…"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"At least I can say that when the world went to shit, I didn't let it take me down with it." Dale grabbed the garbage bag and tossed it to Shane, who caught it and at the same time noticed me.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in." He said. Dale followed his gaze, and looked surprised when he saw me standing there.

"Madison?"

"Came back for the big show, did you? Can always use another hand," He said with a smirk before walking away. At least now I knew for sure that I was near the farm.

I turned my attention to Dale," What's going on?"

"We had a deal with Hershel about not using guns on the farm…I decided to take them away before anyone could get their hands on them." Dale replied to me," I hadn't expected Shane to notice it that quickly."

"But what are you doing here? We all thought you had left for good." He quickly said, changing the subject.

"Where is he going with those guns?" I asked, ignoring Dale's question for the moment, nodding into the direction Shane had gone.

"I think…I think he's going to shoot the Walkers in the barn." He replied," Glenn and I told everyone this morning. Hershel has Walkers locked up in his barn, his family and friends who turned into those things."

"I know…" I told him honestly.

"You know?" He repeated with obvious surprise.

I nodded in response.

"How did you,-"

"That doesn't matter, does it? I left because of it and then decided to come back."

"And why did you decide to come back?"

"Because as it turns out… I couldn't leave after all." I gave a small smile

**::::::…::::::**

Quietly Dale and I made our way back to farm. We neared the edge of the forest and stopped when several gunshots sounded. We looked at each other, both unsure if this sound meant serious trouble, but sure enough that we needed to hurry back. We ran quickly, then another shot sounded and another.

"The barn!" Dale shouted and I dropped my backpack to increase my speed. When I got out of the forest I could see them in the distance. The entire group, standing in front of a dozen Walkers who were making their way out of the barn. I couldn't tell who fired the first shot, but one by one the Walkers were shot as soon as they stepped into the open. I spotted Sophia standing next to Carl along with his mother. The ground was covered with Walkers who had been shot, another came out of the barn and Shane shot him right between its eyes. That was the last one. I stopped and panted heavily. Dale appeared next to me, with my backpack. I mouthed a thank you at him. He didn't notice. He was too busy taking in the scene in front of him. Seeing the Walkers out of the barn, made me realize there were more of them than I had thought in the first place.

No one spoke. Everyone just looked at all of the dead bodies. Hershel was on his knees on the ground, his head hung low. I remembered he told Dale that his wife and stepson were among the people in the barn. He had already lost his wife once…and now he had to see it happen for the second time.

I noticed Sophia had her face turned away from the barn. Lori, Carl's mother and Rick's wife, held the two children within her arms. I walked over to her, and stopped a few feet away from them.

"Soph?" I said softly. She turned around and stared at me for a few seconds.

"I-I am so sorry." I continued as I got down onto my knees," I shouldn't have,-"

Sophia turned her head and ran away, back to the farmhouse.

"Sophia?" I called after her.

"Leave her…" this was Carl's voice," it's your own fault."

"Carl!" Lori scolded him.

"Sorry." He mumbled under his breath.

I stood up and took a step back from Lori and Carl. It was then I noticed Carol, standing on the other side, next to Daryl. When she saw me looking at her, she averted her gaze and ran after her daughter towards the farm. Everything was an entire mess. I didn't know what to expect when returning to the farm, but it wasn't this. Not Sophia's behaviour nor the Walkers from the barn being wiped out.

Everyone kept their distance from the massacre, everyone except one. Beth, Hershel's daughter, the one who got my backpack yesterday from the house, ran up to one of the dead Walkers. She got down to the ground, crying on the verge of hyperventilation and whispered something to the woman on the ground. I reckoned that was her mother, Hershel's wife.

Then the Walker grabbed a hold of Beth and everybody ran over to her. With a lot of effort they managed to get Beth out of the Walker's grasp. T-dog kicked the head of the Walker and Andrea finished it by smashing a scythe trough its brain. Hershel held his daughter tight as she kept on crying. I looked at the Walkers around me. There were so many of them and that was when I saw her. For a moment my heart stopped. I never expected to see her here. I thought we had lost her on the highway. I clasped my hands in front of my mouth at the sight of her.

"Oh…Emily…" I uttered shakily. She was missing her left arm, but her pearl necklace was still around her neck.

It was Andrea who placed her hand on my shoulder," Madison?"

I swallowed my tears away," that's my mother-in-law…"

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	8. Chapter 8

**I'm so happy with all of the lovely reviews and everyone who keeps reading :) Thank you! **

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**Chapter 8**

The entire Green family had taken refuge inside their house. Glenn, Rick and Shane had followed them, for whatever reason unknown to me. I watched Andrea, coming back from the RV. She stopped in front of me and handed me a blanket.

"To cover her up," She said, nodding at my deceased mother-in-law.

"Thank you, Andrea," I replied taking the blanket from her. I took one last look at Emily before placing the blanket over her.

"I lost my sister." Andrea said to me as I stood back up.

"She turned…I shot her." She added. I looked at Andrea. There were no tears in her eyes, but I knew the hurt was still there. I knew because every now and then I felt it too. She then nodded at Emily who was now hidden beneath the blanket.

"You're mother-in-law…Can I ask-… does that mean?" She looked into my eyes, asking permission to ask me a very obvious question. I shook my head as a response and broke eye contact, "Please don't." I told her. The last thing I felt was Andrea placing her hand on my shoulder and giving it a tight squeeze.

"Let's dig a grave…for Annette and Shawn." Lori suggested. She looked at me for a moment," shall we dig one for,-"

"No." I declined immediately, but then I thought of him. How would he have responded to such an offer? "Wait! I'm sorry. Please, I'd like that."

Lori nodded and turned her attention to Rick. They decided to burn the rest of the bodies, get them on a truck and then burn them in one of the fields. After Shane had gotten the truck and parked it at the barn, they started digging three holes in the ground for the bodies of Annette, Shawn and Emily.

"I'll go get the others." Lori said.

Everybody was there. Hershel had even put on a suit for the funeral. I stood next to him as we all looked down at the three graves. My mind was a blank. It was weird standing here, knowing that Emily was buried and that I was the only one who knew. It felt as if it shouldn't be me standing here saying goodbye to her. After a few minutes, people started to slowly walk away. They didn't really belong here either. I lifted my head and glanced into Sophia's direction. She was looking directly at me. Then she did something I wasn't expecting. She mouthed my name. At least, I thought that's what she did. I had to bite my lip in order not to cry at the small gesture. Then she walked away with her mother. I exhaled deeply and caught a quick glimpse of Daryl, who had once again noticed an interaction between me and Sophia.

Hershel and his family were the last to leave. I waited until they were all gone before picking up a pebble and placing it on Emily's grave. I don't know why I did it, but I had a feeling it was something he would have done.

"How are you doing?" I looked up and saw Lori standing next to me. I thought she had gone back to the house along with the others.

"I'll be alright." I told her.

"Sophia wanted to go and look for you last night." Lori said," Carol wouldn't let her. Then this morning she asked Daryl, told him where you might be. Carol overheard and told them both to stay put."

I looked at Lori speechless. I didn't know what to say. After the way she had responded this afternoon, before making the gesture a moment ago, I thought she was incredibly angry with me.

"Daryl got mad at Carol, Sophia followed his example." Lori sighed," she's been ignoring Carol all morning…until you're return."

I stood up and sighed," I should talk to Carol and Sophia."

Lori nodded," You should. You probably have the best intentions, but Sophia is Carol's daughter and all Sophia has been doing since she's back with her mother, is fussing over you."

That hit me hard. I know Lori meant well, and that she was right, but it still hurt.

"I'll go tell Carol you're looking for her." Lori said," I'm sorry for your loss." She added before turning away. I waited until she was out of sight and slowly headed back to the farm. On my way, a red Chevrolet caught my eye, driving away from the driveway. I couldn't tell who was in it, but whoever it was, was obviously in a hurry.

**::::::...::::::**

"Madison," I looked up and saw Maggie coming towards me," have you seen my dad?"

She halted and looked at me with a hopeful look.

"Not since the funeral." I told her, and she emitted a frustrated groan followed by a '_damn it_'.

"Everything alright?" I asked.

"It's Beth. She's in some kind of state. Shock," Maggie answered, running a hand through her short hair," I don't know what to do. Dad does, we need him. No one has seen him yet."

I had no idea where he could be, but then I remembered the car I spotted earlier. "Maggie, I saw a red Chevrolet not too long ago, driving away from the farm. Maybe that was your dad?"

Maggie's eyes widened, and she quickly darted off back into the house. I'm guessing that must have been Hershel. I wondered where he was going and why he had left without even mentioning it to his own daughter or anyone else.

Not too long after that Rick and Glenn left to go into town and look for Hershel. I reckoned that was the reason the two men had taken only one of the cars. The whole barn incident had made a deep impact on the Greene family. The only one who seemed to handle it was Maggie. Everyone else was kind of in their own world at the moment.

An hour later I decided I could not put it off any longer. I knew I had to have a talk with Carol and with Sophia. I needed to make it clear to Sophia why I had left, even though it wasn't really important anymore. But most of all I needed to ensure Carol I had no intention of taking her daughter away from her. Though Lori didn't literally say that, I knew that's what she meant when she explicitly told me that Sophia was Carol's daughter. _Ergo_, _not mine. _

I reckoned they were in the RV with Carl and Dale. I was on my way over there when Lori stepped out from the back of the house, wearing a coat and holding a map in her hand. She hurried over to the car and seemed shocked when she saw me standing there.

"Going somewhere?" I asked her.

"We really need Hershel. Beth's condition is getting worse." Lori told me as she tossed a map on the passenger's seat, then she held up a gun, checked the ammo, and placed it on top of the map.

"You're going after them?" I asked as she stepped into the car.

"What else can I do, Madison?" was her reply.

"Uh, wait?" _Was this woman insane_?" Your husband and Glenn are already looking for him."

"We can't wait. Maybe something happened to them, maybe the car broke down,-"

"You can't go alone."

"No one else wants to go look for them, so I'll have to." Lori continued, as she fastened her seatbelt.

"Maybe they're right." I said," It's insane for you to go too."

Lori sighed and placed the keys into the ignition," look, I'm going. So get out of my way, please."

_Stupid woman…_

I walked around the car, opened the door and stepped into the passenger's seat. Lori looked at me with a surprised look.

"Go before I change my mind."

I held the map within my hands. We were heading towards the next town, looking for a bar. Apparently Maggie suspected that her father might be there.

"Take the next turn." I told Lori.

"Thank you." Lori said to me, after she had made the turn," for coming with me."

I waved her comment away," You can thank me as soon as we've found them and are back at the farm safe and sound."

Lori nodded," How much further until we're there?" she asked turning her head to me.

"Well," I replied, holding the map up," if we follow this road it will only be…LORI!"

Lori gasped and turned the wheel of the car, evading a wandering Walker on the road.

**::::::…::::::**

My head hurt like hell and everything was blurry when I opened my eyes. _What happened?_ I looked around me. A light kept blinking, accompanied by a clicking noise, the turn signal was on. I turned my head to the left and saw the faint shape of a person next to me. I blinked a couple of times and the image sharpened. Lori.

When I looked to my right I could see the darkness of the night sky. _How long have we been here?_ My body felt like it had been in a washing machine. I was hanging in my seatbelt, looking down at Lori who was lying on top of the door.

"Lori…" I called out," Lori, wake up!"

The response that came wasn't from her. No living thing could emit such a noise. A growling, gurgling Walker was trying to get into the car by squeezing his face into the partly broken windshield.

I reached down with my hand and shook Lori's shoulder. _Damn it Lori, wake up!_

She stirred and immediately cried out when she opened her eyes and saw the Walker. The Walker's skin started to peel back as he tried to enter the car.

"Lori, I'm stuck." I told her as she crawled past me towards the back of the car. The Walker was now trying to get his arm through the cracked windshield. Lori stopped and unbuckled my seatbelt. As soon as I was free, I fell down on my side in between Lori and the Walker.

"Go, go!" I said. Lori turned and continued climbing her way to the back. At that moment the Walker had managed to push his arm through the windshield and grabbed a fistful of Lori's hair who immediately screamed.

I couldn't reach out to hit or kick the Walker, but luckily Lori was a quicker thinker than I thought. Without seeing her reach for it, she had managed to pull out the signal switch and stabbed the Walker in its eye.

"Holy shit…" I breathed heavily as Lori made her way out of the car through the trunk door of the car.

I followed Lori as quickly as possible, but stopped when I saw a shadow appear behind her.

"Behind you!" I yelled, but Lori didn't manage to turn around in time. The Walker grabbed hold of her coat, which she managed to shake off before kicking the Walker to the ground. She started to crawl away but the Walker kept coming for her. I looked around, _where was the gun? _ And then I spotted it. Quickly I grabbed it, crawled out of the car as Lori smashed the Walker against his head with a hub cap. At that moment I raised the gun and fired.

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	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you all so much for your comments! I can't seem to stop writing because of the great responses :) **

**Enjoy this chapter**

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**Chapter 9**

The gun didn't fire, it jammed. Lori screamed as the Walker grabbed her.

"Shit!" I cussed, hitting the gun on the side with my other hand. Immediately it fired. I looked up in horror, not knowing if the bullet had hit the Walker…or Lori.

Lori stared at me with her eyes widened. The Walker behind her toppled over and hit the asphalt with a loud thud. I let go of the gun and grabbed hold of my chest," damn..."

Lori dropped down on her knees and clasped her hands over her stomach.

"Too close," She muttered," too close."

"Are you alright?" I asked her. She lifted her head and gave a short nod.

I got out of the car and slowly made my way over to her. My legs were shaking, probably too much adrenaline, caused by fear, pumping through my veins.

She grabbed my extended hand and without warning wrapped her arms around me once she was up.

"Thank you Maddy." She said to me in a raspy voice.

I gently pushed her back and gave a small smile," let's go back to the farm. Everyone is probably wondering where we are."

I walked back to pick up the gun, my right leg was still shaking_. I really dislike guns_. I'm glad I hadn't accidentally shot Lori. Even if the gun hadn't jammed…I had a lousy aim. Lori walked past me as I bent down to take the gun from the ground.

"Lori?"

She didn't reply or stopped. She kept walking into the night, into the other direction, away from the farm. I left the gun and jogged after her but stopped immediately as a pain shot through my right leg. I must have hurt it when we crashed with the car.

"Lori, stop! Where do you think you're going?" _I knew very well where she was going, and I doubted she had a case of disorientation._ Trying to ignore the pain, I hobbled after her.

"We're near the town, right?" Lori said to me as she kept on walking," We'll go into town, find Rick, Glenn and Hershel and safely drive back with them to the farm."

"For goodness sake…" I gritted my teeth together to stop myself from cursing the hell out of that woman.

"For all we know they're already at the farm." Lori stopped and this allowed me to catch up with her," Please, Lori." I winched as I halted next to her.

"I can hardly walk as it is." I continued," and you've got blood on your head."

Lori raised her arm and touched the side of her forehead, blood stuck to her fingertips. She still had that determined look in her eye, to go on and find her husband.

"Don't make me knock you out and drag your butt back to the farm, because I will."

Lori glanced down at my right leg, and then she turned around and continued her walk. _Son of a,-_

"Fine, you go ahead. I'll tell your son how much you cared about him or the safety of others." I was done with this. I followed her example and turned around, but headed into the other direction, back to the farm.

The sound of two vehicles approaching caused me to forget my anger, and then three headlights shone brightly into our direction. I had to lift my arm to cover my eyes from the bright light. A car stopped as did a motorcycle.

"Madison!" a voice called out. _Daryl, thank the heavens. _He got off his motorcycle and hurried over. I sure was glad to see his face.

"We saw the car, are you alright?"

At that moment, Shane stepped out of the car," Where's Lori?" He demanded. Not even a, how are you doing or are you hurt?

I pointed at the faint silhouette behind me," she's right there." I told him and he hurried after her.

I turned back to Daryl who was eyeing my right leg. The denim was dark coloured.

"Only my leg," Daryl moved his gaze and took a quick glance at the rest of my body.

"Stop it." I told him, feeling rather embarrassed," it's only the leg, I'll ask Hershel to take a look at it when we're back at the farm."

Daryl shook his head," they're not back yet."

"They're not?" I glanced back at Lori, who was apparently in some sort of discussion with Shane. I felt my right arm move and was surprise to see Daryl next to me, having a firm grip on my arm and supporting my body.

"Let's get you in the car." He said.

"No." I replied immediately," I-I really do not want to be near..." I glanced at the car and then shifted my gaze to where Lori was. I didn't want to be near either of the two, a car or Lori. But I kept that to myself. I realized how much I must have sounded like a whiney little girl, at that moment I could care less about it, luckily Daryl didn't ask questions.

Quietly we walked to his motorcycle and he helped me get onto the bike. I flinched as he moved my right leg.

"What were you thinking going with her to find Rick?" Daryl asked me after he had made sure I was sitting properly on the back.

"I couldn't let her go alone." I answered.

"So you decided to play the hero and accompany her?" He said.

"She was already in the car… Nobody wanted to go with her." I countered.

"She never asked anyone else, except me. I told her it was a bad idea."

"I'm sorry?" I frowned.

At that point Shane and Lori were on their way back. He opened the passenger's seat for her and she stepped into the car.

"I can't believe that," I pressed my lips together into a tight line. I was absolutely furious.

"I've done enough lately." Was Daryl's answer," just as you've done enough for them," Daryl added as he got on his bike.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, but my question was lost in the noise of the engine. I placed my hands on his sides, but he grabbed them and placed them around his waist. Good thing that he did, otherwise I might have ended up on the side of the road again.

**::::::…::::::**

"Hey, wake up," I heard the faint voice of Daryl echo in my head," Mads, we're here." '

I opened my eyes and saw the farmhouse. The car with Lori and Shane was in front of us. We rode past the fences and stopped. Almost everyone was coming our way when they heard us. Lori and Shane stepped out of the car, while Daryl helped me get off the motorcycle. They weren't expecting us to come back the way that we did. Lori and I looked like an absolute mess. She with blood on her head, shirt torn and pants stained with blood from the Walkers. Compared to Lori I didn't look much worse, except for my leg. The others were pretty shocked when they saw us.

"Oh my God, are you two alright?" Andrea asked as she ran up to me.

"What happened?" Dale looked at Lori and Shane.

"They had an accident," Shane answered, while Lori quickly replied," I'm fine, where is Rick?"

No one answered her question. Everyone simply looked at one another.

"They're not back?" Lori turned her eyes at Shane," Where are they?" Anger written across her face, and I understood immediately that Shane had lied to her in order to get Lori into the car.

"I had to get you here."

She didn't appreciate it. She went up to Shane and started to lash out at him," Asshole, he's my husband!"

"Lori, I'll go after him, I'll go find him." Shane said as he held her," first things first, I gotta look after you, gotta make sure the baby is alright."

_A baby, Lori is pregnant?_

"Pregnant?" I whispered softly.

"You're having a baby?" This came from Carl. Another silence fell over the group. Was Shane the only one who knew about Lori being pregnant? Judging by the way everyone else responded, it seemed to me as if no one knew.

Daryl ignored the announcement and pulled me with him towards the house," let's get you inside."

We headed to the house. The front door opened, revealing Sophia and Carol.

"Maddy!" Sophia ran up to me and collided against my body. She would have knocked me to the ground, had it not been for Daryl who had a firm grip on me. She did manage to knock the wind out of me.

"Easy kiddo," Daryl said to Sophia.

"I knew you'd find her Daryl." Sophia said with a smile. Then she noticed the way Daryl was holding me and her eyes moved downwards.

"You're hurt." She turned her head to her mother. Carol walked down the porch steps and came up to my other side. She placed my arm around her shoulder and together she and Daryl guided me up the steps.

"What happened out there? Is Lori alright?" Carol asked with a worried look.

"She's fine…" I replied.

Carefully they placed me on one of the couches and I leaned back as Sophia sat down next to me.

"We got surprised by a Walker, took a tumble and when we woke up it was already dark outside." I closed my eyes," We got attacked by a Walker as we tried to crawl out of the car. After another visit from a second Walker, Lori still wanted to keep going to look for the others…"

"You're lucky you two survived the crash." Carol said as she inspected my leg," I'm going to fetch Patricia, perhaps she can help." I thanked Carol and waited for her to be out of sight before turning my attention to Sophia.

"We need to talk."

I looked at Daryl," would you mind giving us a minute?" I asked. Daryl nodded and moved to the other side of the room.

"Daryl?" I called after him, he halted," Thank you."

He didn't reply, but that was alright, I'd learned by now that Daryl was not a man of many words. He nodded once and instead decided to leave the room.

"I thought you had left again," Sophia said," but then I found your backpack in the hallway. You'd never leave your backpack."

"Sophia,-" I tried to interrupt her but she kept on going. I couldn't recall if she used to do this when it was just the two of us.

"We noticed Lori missing too, and immediately we all started looking around the farm. Then mum and I went to Daryl and asked him if he had seen you or Lori. And then he went to look for you with Shane." She looked rather proud, that if she hadn't gone and spoken to Daryl, Lori and I would still be gone.

"I'm glad he did." I told her," but that's not what I want to talk about." Sophia cocked her head.

I forgot what I wanted to say to her. After the barn incident, I had thought up a whole script inside my mind, what I wanted to say to Sophia, about her behaviour towards me and to her mother. But somehow it didn't seem to matter anymore. There was only one thing I wanted her to know, and that was for her to know, the reason why I came back. The door to the room opened and Patricia walked in, together with Carol.  
"Let's have a look at your leg." Patricia said.

"Come on Sophia, let's give them some privacy." Carol extended her hand towards her daughter.

"Thank you," I nodded at Carol," I'll see you later." I smiled to Sophia.

Patricia, as it turned out, was Hershel's assistant. She couldn't do everything he could, or knew as much as him, but she knew enough to figure out what had to be done.

"You're going to need stitches." Patricia said, she looked up," There's a deep cut in your leg, and from the look of it, if we don't stitch it up you could get a nasty infection."

Suddenly the image of the cut on my leg from this afternoon sprang into my mind. I never gotten around properly cleaning it or taking care of it after the barn incident.

"I can't believe I was that stupid…" I mumbled to myself.

"I should tell you beforehand," She continued," We don't have any anaesthetics."

"Ugh…terrific," I groaned.

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**Slowly trying to weave in some Daryl moments, R&R please ^^ Thank you**


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